Mrs. Comstock endured it as long as she could, and then slipped
from the carriage and fled down the street.
She did not know how far she went or how long she stayed, but everything
was still, save an occasional raised voice when she wandered back. She
stood looking at the building. Slowly she entered the wide gates and
followed up the walk. Elnora had been coming here for almost four years.
When Mrs. Comstock reached the door she looked inside. The wide hall was
lighted with electricity, and the statuary and the decorations of the
walls did not seem like pieces of foolishness. The marble appeared pure,
white, and the big pictures most interesting. She walked the length of
the hall and slowly read the titles of the statues and the names of the
pupils who had donated them. She speculated on where the piece Elnora's
class would buy could be placed to advantage.
Then she wondered if they were having a large enough audience to buy
marble. She liked it better than the bronze, but it looked as if it cost
more. How white the broad stairway was! Elnora had been climbing those
stairs for years and never told her they were marble. Of course, she
thought they were wood. Probably the upper hall was even grander than
this. She went over to the fountain, took a drink, climbed to the first
landing and looked around her, and then without thought to the second.
There she came opposite the wide-open doors and the entrance to the
auditorium packed with people and a crowd standing outside.
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